JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims United States Steel (NYSE:X) Target Price to $43.00

United States Steel (NYSE:X) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $47.00 to $43.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on X. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of United States Steel from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded United States Steel from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on United States Steel in a report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on United States Steel from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $38.38.

United States Steel Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:X opened at $36.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 2.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.58. United States Steel has a 1 year low of $20.40 and a 1 year high of $50.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that United States Steel will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in X. Third Point LLC boosted its position in United States Steel by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 5,500,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,575,000 after acquiring an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,513,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $219,583,000 after purchasing an additional 447,186 shares during the last quarter. KGH Ltd boosted its stake in United States Steel by 7.5% during the third quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,488,769 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $145,795,000 after buying an additional 315,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of United States Steel during the 4th quarter worth $200,952,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,498,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $121,564,000 after acquiring an additional 94,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

About United States Steel

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.